I help run a local charity haunt for the
Jaycees. With only days to go before the 02 season was
to start one of the rooms seemed lacking. It was a operating
room with two actors. I threw this table together in
two afternoons and took it to the haunt. The idea is
simple, The actor lays in the table and appears to be
cut in half. I did not come up with this idea. Movies
have been using this prop for years. This is not a complete
how-too but it will give you a basic idea on how it
was made.

Basic
Construction

The base is a simple wooden box made
of 1"by 8" wood and its held together by wood
screws. I made the table 2 ft by 4 ft. I felt that a
shorter length would help with the illusion that half
the body was missing.

The legs were made with scrap 4"
by 4" lumber. Holes were drilled through both the
legs and the frame and then bolted together. As you
can see by the picture, the leg was installed so that
it was recessed 1 1/2" form the top of the frame.
The lid will sit on the top of the legs.

Two pieces of angle iron were bolted
to the bottom of each side of the frame. This will be
the support for the bottom of the prop. A piece of plywood
then was cut to size and installed. I cut the plywood
so that it was shorter that the frame. I figured that
larger actors may use this prop. A 6 inch gab was left
at the foot of the frame for the actors legs to fit
through.

The the mattress was made of 1"
by 6" lumber. It is made in two halves. The top
is screwed in place. It is not shown in this picture
but a thinker piece of plywood was installed for the
actors back to rest on. I also installed a small piece
of 1" by 2" that will support the lower half
of the mattress.

A 1/4" thick sheet of plywood
was then cut to size. This will be the top of the mattress.
I used a jigsaw to cut a u-shape out of the plywood
so that it would line up with the actors back rest.
Then the plywood was screwed onto the top of the mattress.
I stapled foam to the mattress and then covered that
with white fabric.

The second half of the mattress is
a cover than cant be removed. This allows the actor
to get into the prop. It was made with 1" by 6"
also. I measured the frame where it would sit and then
took 1/2 inch off of the measurements on the side and
1/4 inch of the length. . This way the top will be fit
into the frame after it is covered with the foam and
fabric.

I cut a larger u-shape out of the
top and then covered it with foam and fabric as I did
with the other half. I then needed to make the chest.
I used chicken wire to make a wire frame of a chest.

OK, this part is painful for me. LOL. I wanted the
chest to look as real as I could. I decided to make
a quick cast of my chest and glue that to the wire
chest frame. I figured that I could just smear Vaseline
over my chest and then have the dental plaster brushed
over it to make the mold. DONT EVER DO THIS! It worked
but I no longer have hair not my chest.

A better idea and an easier one for people that do
not have a knowledge of casting would be to fill the
wire chest with newspaper and then use Great Stuff
to coat the outside of the wire. A piece of Cling
Wrap is then placed over the Great Stuff. This allows
you to mold the chest with out getting it on your
hands.

After the chest was complete I connected it to the
top. I cut up an old shirt. The sides and bottom were
glued to the mattress. The top ( arms and shoulder)
was to be worn by the actor.

Red spray paint was used for the blood. A blood train
was sprayed where the two half's of the mattress met
to hide the seem. More blood trails were added and
then flat black was misted on the frame.

As you can see the kids in the neighborhood all wanted
to take a turn. My daughter Jessica is the model in
this shot.

I hope this demo gives you an idea on how this prop
was made. I do wished that I had taken a few more
pictures to better explain all the steps. It was a
huge success at the haunt. It was placed so that the
patrons had to walk around it to get to the next room.
No one thought that it was a really person. The actor
would sit still until the crowd was standing right
next to them and then scream and grab at them.